At Home in the Countryside

The Dutch countryside is in a state of flux. The decline of agriculture and the altered use of space are being studied extensively in research and in the media.  But what about the people living in the countryside? How are they doing?
In the report Thuis op het platteland (At Home in the Countryside), of which this book is an abridged version, the focus is on the living situation of residents in the countryside. How is the current living situation of the rural population? Which social developments has the rural population encountered in the past decade? Does the living situation of the rural population differ from the urban in the Netherlands? 
Supported by empirical data, key statistics are used to describe several topics: demography, the use of space, economics and welfare,  employment, education, health and healthcare, housing, mobility, social services, social safety, time use, and social participation. The developments in the different domains are combined in the 'living situation index'. This index offers a measure of welfare and well-being of individuals and household entities in the rural areas.

At Home in the Countryside was produced by request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This publication is the first resulting from the research program that aims to develop a monitoring instrument 'Social State of the Rural Areas'.